Jaicen and Al meet the X-Men
by Mooreisbetter27
Summary: Two men wake up and find themselves in the bodies of two familiar X-men, with no memories of how they got there. This isn't the world they remember and they struggle to figure out how they got here and how to get home.
1. Prologue

Jaicen Prologue

Somewhere, an alarm sounded. A loud, pulsating, firehouse alarm that shook the walls of the room Jaicen was sleeping in. Jaicen groaned in frustration and reached over to slap his hand down on his alarm. His hand waved through nothing but air. One eye opened slowly and looked around the pitch dark room. He caught a very distinct smell of eggs, sausage and bacon and orange juice. He swung his legs down and sat on the edge of the bed trying to remember the night before. New Orleans. Out with his brother partying and celebrating Al's 21st birthday. So where was he? Was this a hotel room?

He stood slowly and realized he didn't have a hangover, which was good considering how much he had drank the previous night. But what was the last thing he remembered? He remembered shots of something blue sent over by the bar and then nothing else. He hoped Al could clue him in a little more on what was going on.

Just then the door of his room swung open and there stood a white hair dark skinned woman that looked to be in her 40's. She was dressed in some sort of work-out gear and seemed a bit stressed. Jaicen could smell the sweat coming off her body which made him shudder a little.

"Logan, get up, there's been an attack," the woman said in an accent Jaicen couldn't quite place.

"I… what?" Jaicen could only mumble.

"Logan, let's go," she said and turned, stalking out.

Logan? What the hell? His brain was a little fuzzy from the night before, but he was positive his name was not Logan. He heard a commotion out in the hallway and listened intently.

"My name's not Scott!" he heard someone proclaim. "I don't even know who you guys are, or where I am."

Jaicen moved to the door and peeked out, seeing a brown-haired pretty boy with shaded glasses being berated by the same woman he had just had burst into his room. Jaicen supposed the two had seen each other when she left his room. The woman had her arms crossed and was clearly not amused, the air crackled with energy as she spoke to him.

"No time Scott," she said. "I realize that times have been rough on you, but you're the leader and you need to show it."

With that she turned and stalked off.

"I... I'm not Scott!" He yelled back at her even though she ignored it.

The man looked around in frustration and noticed Jaicen. For a long moment they just stared at each other awkwardly, unsure of what to say, sizing each other up.

"If you're not Scott, who are you?" Jaicen asked curiously.

Scott thought better of the question and turned to walk away, but Jaicen stepped to him quickly and grabbed him by the wrist. He moved quicker than he remembered being able to.

"Look, I'm just trying to figure out where I am too," Jaicen said. "If you're not who they say you are and I'm not who they say I am then maybe we can help each other figure this thing out."

"I don't know who you are, or what's going on," said the man. "My name's Al and I woke up in this house after a night of partying with my brother and now I don't even look like me!"

Jaicen took a step back in surprise. The story matched up with his own, but how could that be? The man, Al, turned to walk off and Jaicen went after him grabbing at him again. Al spun away from him, turning to face him and Jaicen caught a reflection out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a mirror and looked at himself. As he looked at the mirror and Saw Al/Scott's reflection, for the first time he realized how short he truly was. Jaicen was average height normally but right now he looked to be the average height of your average woman. Al/Scott on the other hand towered over him, with nearly a foot in size difference between the two. On top of that, Jaicen was ripped like he's never been before.

His muscles were bulging out of a white tank top, his arms cut and hairy. He wore tight jeans that showed the outline of his muscular thighs and calves, which if his arms were any indication, were most likely also hairy. The face is what was the most jarring though. Jaicen was normally completely clean cut with short well groomed hair. The man he saw in the mirror was anything but that. His face was grizzled and old looking, maybe in his forties with thick muttonchops extending down to just above his chin. His hair was flat in the center but sticking up on either side to give the appearance of an extra set of bat-like ears. Jaicen looked so familiar to himself, but he couldn't quite place it and his brain was too abuzz to sit and think about it.

"Who are you?" Scott/Al said, seeing the look on Jaicen's face upon seeing his own appearance.

"I'm," Jaicen paused. "… not sure I even know…"

Jaicen and Al were lucky that the rest of these strangers, especially the woman, were apparently in a rush to get to where they needed to because the two weren't hounded again. Jaicen and Al were also not expecting the loud earthquake that accompanied the group leaving but they recovered themselves relatively quickly and retreated to Jaicen's "room" to speak. They locked the doors and sat down on either sides of the bed, periodically glancing to each other while looking around the room. Neither seemed willing at first to speak, both seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Al was the first one to break the silence.

"I don't remember everything," he said quietly. "But I do remember that my name is Al, not Scott."

"My brother's name is Al, I know that much," Jaicen responded. "And I don't know who that guy in the mirror was, but I know my name is Jaicen."

"Well, I don't know what's going on," Al said slowly. "But Jaicen's my brother. And I don't look anything like I remember either."

Al put his head in his hands and went to rub his temples when his fingers touched the shaded glasses he forgot he was wearing. He idly grabbed the glasses and pulled them off his face, his eyes directed towards Jaicen. Something that shocked both Jaicen and Al then happened. An orange optic beam exploded out of Al's eyes and connected with Jaicen's chest, throwing him across the room where he exploded through and out the wall of the mansion to fall twenty feet to the ground, landing on his back with a thud. Jaicen grunted in shock more than pain and rolled around for a moment holding his chest. He recovered relatively quickly, the pain subsiding momentarily despite the fall and he sat up looking up to the large hole his body had made in the side of the mansion. Al was looking through the hole, his glasses having being replaced, a frantic look of shock on his face.

"Are you okay?!" Al cried out hoarsely.

"What…" Jaicen mumbled and furrowed his brow. "What the hell was that?!"

"I… I don't know!"

Jaicen slowly stood up and looked around at the debris caused by his unceremonious exit from the mansion. The first thing that was alarming to him was that the man who was most likely his brother had just shot some sort of laser beam out of his eyes. The second and possibly more alarming thing at the moment was the fact that he had just fallen twenty feet through a solid mansion wall and landed on his back with not even a scratch to show. Something about this scenario was familiar to him but he couldn't put a finger on it. He knew his name and his brother's name but little else. He remembered Vegas and the party but not much after that. What was happening to himself?

The two eventually made their way to the entrance of the mansion with Al meeting Jaicen at the door. Al tried to apologize but Jaicen shook it away as a non-issue.

"Does any of this seem familiar to you?" Jaicen asked.

"Familiar, I guess," Al replied as they made their way through the mansion back towards Jaicen's bedroom. "But not familiar in a way that something like this has ever happened to me personally. More like I've seen this before or read this before. But hell, I don't know what else to tell you because besides my name, I can't even remember my birthday."

"July 23rd" Jaicen replied distractedly.

They both stopped and looked at each other.

"How'd you know that?" Al asked.

"I don't really know," Jaicen said, rubbing his head. "I guess I really am your brother. Beats me why I would remember that particular fact."

"I remember I love chicken fajitas," Al said to no one in particular.

They looked at each and shared a genuine laugh before going into Jaicen's bedroom. Jaicen surveyed the damage done to the wall while Al walked around the room looking at different things periodically, trying to put any bit of evidence together but eventually coming up with nothing. Suddenly, the door opened and a bald man in a wheel chair entered. He looked at the two of them, and his face darkened.

"You're not Wolverine and Cyclops," he said quietly. "What are you doing in my mansion?"

There was a long silence between the three in the room as the man's eyes seem to bore into their brains.

"Listen, we don't even know where we are," Jaicen said slowly, not necessarily scared of the man in the wheelchair but knowing they were intruding.

"Yeah and sorry about your wall," Al added quickly.

The man's face softened a little and his wheelchair rolled, no, glided further into the room. Jaicen perked an eyebrow and shook it off. After all, he had just seen someone shoot a beam out of his eyes; floating wheelchairs were the last of his concern.

"My name is Charles Xavier," the man said only slightly more warmly. "And this is my school for the gifted. I'm less alarmed that you managed to get in here and more worried about how exactly you inhabit the bodies of two friends and colleagues."

Jaicen looked at Al and then back at Charles, really unsure of himself. The man wasn't wrong. Jaicen and Al were essentially trespassing, even though they weren't entirely sure how they had gotten there. The inhabiting someone else's body was a more spectacular concern.

"We want to get answers just as much as you," Al finally said. "We're just as much at a loss as you are about this whole situation."

Charles paused for a moment and looked at the two of them before turning his wheelchair and heading to the door.

"Maybe I can help with that," he said vaguely. "Come with me."

Jaicen and Al were led to a relatively large room that looked more like a recreation room than anything else. There were multiple chairs and a rather large table in the center of the room. Al and Jaicen sat next to each other and Charles pulled his wheel chair up on the other side of the table across from them.

"I get the feeling you two have yet to realize who, or what you're inhabiting," Charles said.

"You said you could help," Jaicen said, getting a little annoyed with the vague speak.

"I have a very special ability," Charles said slowly. "I'm a mutant."

Charles paused when he said this as if it should have some affect on Jaicen or Al but they just stared at him blankly.

"I can read your minds," Charles continued. "By rule, I don't like to do it unless absolutely necessary or with permission. In this case, I know there's more than meets the eye and I think maybe I can get to the bottom of it, if one of you would be willing to serve as guinea pig."

"Even if we believed a word you say, we don't remember anything," Al said quietly, as if that was enough to deter Charles.

"You may not remember, but the memories are still there," Charles said. "While you may be tentative, I think you may be more apt to believe me after what you've seen already. So what do you say?"

There was a long pause as the two looked at each other and then back at Charles. The request was an odd one, but so far it had been a odd day. Jaicen felt like he had nothing to lose at this point.

"What the hell, you can do me," Jaicen said finally. "I wanna know what's going on and if this is the easiest way, the hell with it."

"Good, now just relax," Charles said, putting his fingers up to his bald temples. "You may feel a little itchy but I promise it won't hurt."

It happened relatively fast. The itching was a bit more than Charles had originally said. It felt more like someone was digging into his brain slowly, but less painfully. Jaicen grimaced and Al put his hand on Jaicen's shoulder but Jaicen just shook his head to show he was okay. Charles rubbed at his temples watching Jaicen for a long moment before dropping his hands down to his lap.

Jaicen looked at Charles and realized he shouldn't have been so ready to give up so much of himself. He now felt a little more vulnerable as he realized Charles may have been able to see things no one had seen. Jaicen didn't know what he had seen, but he felt embarrassed for it.

"Jaicen, don't worry," Charles said, as if he was again reading his mind. "I only dug as much as was absolutely necessary."

Jaicen hated Charles right then. Later, he could convince himself it was for the greater good, but right now he would give anything to punch Charles in his face. Instead, he turned away and seethed to himself. He wasn't sure if he was more mad at himself or at Charles.

"I got enough information to know that you're very far away from your home," Charles said slowly. "Jaicen and Al. Brothers from another world. Strangely, not even you know how you got here Jaicen. You woke up in Wolverine's body just as Al woke up in Cyclops body. So while I've got a little better idea of what we're dealing with, I don't have very good answers about how you got here or how to get you out."

"You haven't told us anything we haven't figured out on our own!" Al said annoyedly, clearly distressed by Jaicen's reaction to the probing.

"I know a bit more," Charles said. "But I may need to do a little more digging."

"No way," Al responded immediately, motioning to Jaicen who had since stood up, rubbing at his own temples. "Look, we'd rather just go on our own. We'll figure this out by ourselves."

Charles shook his head and wheeled his chair around to the other side of the table.

"I apologize for not being quite as forthright about what exactly that would feel like Jaicen," Charles said slowly. "But, I need to be able to get to the bottom of this. A friend of mine is coming by a little bit later. He's a scientist of sorts. If we can get to the bottom of this, he can help you get back into your own bodies. All I ask is that you just don't make any hasty decisions. Go back to Sco… Al's room. Think it through. If you still feel the same way by dinner time, then we'll discuss you leaving further."

Al opened his mouth to speak but Jaicen put his hand on Al's shoulder.

"We don't know where we are, or what's going on," Jaicen said quietly. "It wouldn't hurt to just think some things through."

With that, Charles led them back to Scott/Al's room where they sat down on Al's huge king sized bed. Jaicen walked around the room slowly, picking up a picture of Scott with his arms wrapped around a fairly gorgeous redhead. Jaicen put the frame down and looked over to his brother that looked nothing like himself.

"I don't like that guy," Al grumbled as he slowly walked around the room he had been in when he woke up.

"I'm not a fan either," Jaicen replied. "Which is why I think we should get out of here."

Jaicen made his way to the only window in the place and opened it. He looked at the jump, about twenty feet and then looked back to his brother. Al didn't need be able to read people's minds to know what Jaicen was thinking. He went to the chair by his desk and grabbed a jacket, throwing it on and hearing the jingling of keys.

"Let's do it," Al said quickly.

Jaicen leapt out the 20 feet, landing lightly on his feet with not so much as a grunt. Al followed quickly after, dropping down next to Jaicen. There were relatively large hedges surrounding the mansions as well as a large fence. Jaicen motioned Al to follow as he made his way towards the front of the mansion in hopes of finding a gate.

As they made their way to the opening gate, Al noticed an open garage just to the side of the mansion but independent of it. Al grabbed Jaicen by the arm, stopping him and reached his hand into his pocket, fishing for the keys he heard earlier. He held it up to Jaicen and the two shared a grin.

They both ran into the open garage, which was massive. Inside the garage was roughly 20 different vehicles of different years make and models. The two looked at each other, both of their mouth a little open. They walked up and down the aisles and Al hit the unlock button on the key set until they found their car.

The car was small and sleek. A silver 2008 Toyota Spyder convertible that looked like it was in immaculate condition.

"I think the eldest should drive," Jaicen said.

"Not a chance," Al replied, opening the driver's side door and hopping in.

Jaicen went to the passenger side begrudgingly and slid in. The engine started with a roar and Al looked around to make sure he knew how to operate the car. Jaicen found the button to retract the roof. Al pulled out of the garage and as they neared the gate, the gate opened automatically.

They shared a holler as they pulled out onto a windy road and took off towards the highway. As they managed to find the highway, Jaicen turned on the radio, turning it up as high as he could to combat the whistling of the air around them. Tom Petty's "Free Falling" was playing.

The two looked at each other, high-fived and began to sing at the top of their lungs as the sound of the Spyder's engine roared along to the tune, away from the mansion and away from Charles Xavier.

End Jaicen Prologue


	2. Chapter 1

Al Chapter 1

After the adrenaline of "escaping" and "Free Falling", Al and Jaicen drove in silence for a while. Al had a feeling Jaicen had no clue where they were going as much as he did, but he knew the further away they could go to get some answers, the better at this point.

They drove for a while before Al dropped off an exit ramp and followed a few signs to a local mall. They parked in a large outdoor garage and sat in the car quietly as the retractable top re-closed itself. After that, they sat a little more in silence.

There were too many questions Al had at this point. Not the least of them was where were they and how were they possessing two other people (if that's truly what it was). A little less annoying was the need to wear the glasses that Al had realized fairly quickly were a necessity if he ever wanted to look at anything without obliterating it.

"As illogical as this seems to be, let's try and look at this from a logical perspective," Jaicen said to Al.

Al looked over at him and listened patiently.

"We both know where we were before we woke up," Jaicen started slowly. "New Orleans. This, clearly, is not New Orleans. We also, clearly, are not ourselves. So what do we do from here?"

"I'm still so fuzzy," Al replied vaguely. "But, if you were trying to figure out where you were, how would you go about doing that? We have to start answering questions one at a time."

"A newspaper," Jaicen mused. "Or the internet? Is the internet here? I would guess."

Al nodded his head and opened his car door, getting out. He heard Jaicen do the same and shut his door in unison with Jaicen. They both stared up at the large mall and glanced around at several people milling around, headed to the mall and generally just enjoying the day.

It was hot, had to be summer here too. Al's birthday was in July, so the timeframe was the same at least.

"Do they have libraries in malls?" Al said out loud.

"They'll have something," Jaicen confirmed. "Let's go."

The two went into the mall and began perusing through the different stores, neither really knowing what exactly they were looking for but just believing when they saw it, they'd know. The first store that gave them any clue was a book store. Both quickly ducked in and Al immediately went over to the periodicals. He picked up a New York Times and looked at the date. July 24th, 2014.

"Right day," Al mumbled.

They shared a look and set the newspaper down, looking around the bookstore slowly. That's when Al noticed the coffee shop in the back of the store.

"Come on, I think I've got something," he said and made his way back there.

Al led and Jaicen followed to the back of the store, where another room opened into a rather large well known coffee establishment. Al spotted a free computer monitor and moved his way towards it quickly. Taped to the top of the computer was a laminated note that said "Computers are for paying customers only". Al shrugged and sat down, beginning to type away.

"Do we have any money?" Jaicen asked, to himself more than anything.

Through everything, all the jumbled thoughts and fuzzy memories, some of the most obvious things had slipped their mind. Jaicen reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. He looked inside and saw this man's driver's license, James Howlett. He had no cash. Al continued to punch away at the keyboard.

"My name is James Howlett," Jaicen said.

Al nodded and typed the name into the computer. A fairly common name, a couple hundred thousand returns came up. There was a long pause and then Al typed in "Charles Xavier – School for the Gifted". A picture of Charles along with a couple of hundred articles sprouted up.

"Bingo," said Al.

A worker behind the counter then seemed to notice that Al and Jaicen were not paying customers and quickly moved over to tell his boss. Al began skimming through a few different articles while Jaicen kept looking around.

"Boy the coffee smells strong in here," Jaicen muttered. "And pastries."

Al glanced to him and back to an article, not noticing the validity his complaint.

"Charles Xavier, often known as Professor X, is the founder of Xavier's School for gifted youngsters in North Salem, New York," Al read. "He is the leader of the band of mutants that call themselves the X-Men, who claim to have good intentions yet seem to cause wanton destruction no matter where they go. Of the documented members of this so called X-Men are included to but not limited to, Scott Summers AKA Cyclops, Jean Grey, Hank McCoy AKA The Beast, Logan Howlett AKA Wolverine and Bobby Drake AKA Iceman, to name just a few."

The manager was now walking over towards them.

"And then it has links to different articles about all the bad things these X-Men have done," Al concluded as he noticed the man approaching.

The manager was an older man but he seemed a little unsure of himself when he looked at Jaicen, obviously a little put-off. His voice came out only slightly a stammer.

"Sirs, the computers are for paying customers only."

Al ignored him, clicking at the mouse a few times and furiously typing at the screen. Jaicen turned his attention to the manager and put his hands out to indicate he was sorry. The manager opened his mouth to speak again when he heard the printer begin spitting out papers. Jaicen looked at the printer and saw a laminated sign that read "10 cents a print-out". Six sheets printed out, Al scooped them up, and turned walking off. Jaicen hurried after him, leaving behind a speechless manager.

"What's that?" Jaicen asked him.

"Just a few articles about these X-Men and two group pictures," Al replied as they both walked out of the coffee shop and then shortly thereafter, the book store.

"I think I saw a bar across the street, how bout we have a drink and do some brainstorming?" Jaicen asked.

"If I didn't know better, I would call you Charles Xavier, because you just read my mind."

The two entered a relatively low-lit bar called "The Golden Lasso" and sat down at a table near the bar. They both ordered a beer and Al laid the two pictures on the table. The first was a picture of six people; a very young Scott Summers in a goofy yellow and blue outfit and Charles Xavier were near the front. With them was a boy younger than Scott, an attractive teenage girl, a relatively large muscular beast of a man and most surprising, a pretty boy with actual feathered wings sprouting from his back.

Al and Jaicen studied the picture intently and then looked up at each other.

"The guy with wings is interesting to say the least," Jaicen said.

Just as he spoke, the waitress came back and set the beers down, hearing Jaicen's remark.

"Oh is that Warren Worthington?" she asked, looking down at the pictures. "A young picture of him. Still handsome for sure."

Al and Jaicen looked up to her quietly and she smiled stupidly, turning and wandering off. They then looked at the second picture. The second picture was more up to date clearly, as it had an older Scott with an older Logan in it. The woman from the previous picture had her arm around Scott's waist in an embrace. There were a few other people, or mutants in the picture but it looked like they weren't prepared for the picture being taken because nobody was paying attention to the camera.

"Interesting bunch," Al remarked.

"Okay, so where exactly do we go from here?" Jaicen said, sitting back and taking a sip from his beer. "I mean, if what we've seen already is any indication, we're not in Kansas anymore Toto. It just seems… what are you looking at?"

While Jaicen had been talking, Al's attention had been drawn to the television above the bar. It was a news broadcast of some sort of a fight that had broken out in downtown New York. The woman who had yelled at Al and Jaicen in back the mansion was fighting a man with a blowtorch strapped to his back. The camera was trying to pick up more, but it was chaos as figures shot in and out of the fight. Ice was thrown here and there and Al could've sworn he saw someone surfing across a sheet of ice? A giant man in blue? A man so big that Al didn't see how he could possibly be upright and moving, but he was.

"The worst part, is that I feel like this is so familiar but I can't quite put my finger on what this all is," Al said with a grunt.

"I can't even remember our last name," Jaicen sighed. "Okay. So we know it's one day after we were in Vegas. We don't remember what happened in Vegas, but we do know it must've stayed there because here we are in New York; somehow apparently inhabiting some other people's… mutant's bodies. It sounds ridiculous just coming out of my mouth."

"I feel like maybe, this wasn't something that existed where we came from," Al said. "I mean, I know my brain is all screwed up, but this seems new to me in the sense that… I've physically seen it but not in a realistic way."

Al paused and grew frustrated, knowing that what he was saying really didn't make sense.

"I know what you mean," Jaicen replied. "Like it was a cool book I read that didn't really exist in the real world."

"Exactly!"

Jaicen took one of the articles from Al and began reading as Al read another silently. They both sipped periodically from their beers. Al read all about the vigilante X-Men who claimed to be about helping but seemed to cause so much destruction along the way. He also read a bit about mutant hating groups and another group of evil mutants called the Brotherhood which Al could only assume was the ones he had seen on the TV screen before.

After about ten minutes of silent reading, Al noticed that a few of the men at the bar were looking over at them. Jaicen was reading his article. There were three of them, relatively burly men, with one smaller man in the middle showing them something on his phone, although only one of them was still looking at the phone. The other two had their eyes on Jaicen and Al.

"I think we have a couple of guys who just realized they're in a bar with "mutants,"' Al said beneath his breath.

Jaicen looked up just as the men made their way over to their table. The smaller one stayed behind. Two hung to the back and one stepped up to their table boldly. He was a redhead from the top of his head to the thick beard and moustache, even to the hair on his muscled arms. He wore a flannel shirt which seemed a little too small for him and tight jeans. He had tanned skin and a seemingly perpetual scowl.

"Ya know fellas," the guy started with a bit of a southern drawl. "I was sitting over there with mah friends and we couldn't help but notice a bit of a bad smell in the bar. Innit that right, Chuck?"

The man named Chuck, standing to the left of the man, was completely bald. He was taller but thicker than the head honcho and he wore a wife beater and jeans. At the moment his arms were crossed showing off some rather large biceps.

"Gus," Chuck said. "I ain't smelt something so bad since I was shovelin manure out my Pop's farm."

Al saw Jaicen's knuckles go white from gripping the edge of the tables. He could tell that Jaicen was about to lose it.

"And Dave, didn't I say that the smell was coming over in this here corner?" Gus asked.

The next guy was to the right of Gus, a short man but stocky. He wore a trucker hat and a wrestling t-shirt with jeans. He was staring a hole in Jaicen.

"Sure did Gus," his voice was deep.

"I think you guys are barking up the wrong tree," Jaicen growled. "I suggest you continue on your way and leave us be."

Gus reached out and grabbed the more recent picture of both Scott and Logan. He went to bring it up to look at it and Jaicen's hand shot out quick as lightning, grabbing him around the wrist. The large man grunted in surprise and tried to pull away, but Jaicen held him tight. Dave reacted quickly and swung a punch as Jaicen's face, but Jaicen pushed his feet back from the table and Dave missed. Jaicen dropped Gus's arm and grabbed Dave by the shirt during his follow through, using his momentum to launch him through the air and into a wall.

Al, originally a bit surprised, felt his body go into motion. When Jaicen let go of Gus, Gus stumbled, but righted himself quickly and went to grab at Jaicen. Al grabbed him by his shoulder and spun him with his left arm, throwing a right cross and sending him backward to the ground hard.

Chuck went around Gus and after Jaicen. Jaicen turned and Chuck punched him hard in the face. Al watched in amusement as Chuck screamed out in pain, holding his, from the sound of it, clearly broken hand. Jaicen's neck snapped to the side a bit and he slowly turned to face Chuck. Jaicen's face was furious, and scary. He grabbed Chuck by the front of his shirt and lifted him a few inches off the ground, cocking his right arm back.

Things seemed to go in slow motion from there. Before he began the punch, three large razor sharp claws exploded out of the back of Jaicen's hands. Al's eyes went wide. There was no way he was going to be able to stop his brother from gutting this man right here in front of this bar full of people. Al had never seen Jaicen this mad. Some sort of berserker rage had coursed through him and no amount of talking was going to prevent what was about to come.

Al did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed the glasses off his face and looked at his brother. As he hoped, the same beam from earlier exploded out from his eyes and caught Jaicen square in the chest, sending him back and through the bar wall to land on the outside. Chuck went sprawling the other direction, but Al had aimed true and managed to not hit him at all. The world stood still for about five seconds and Al could've sworn he heard crickets. He quickly moved through the rather large hole in the wall to find his brother, scorched shirt, picking himself up off the ground in a bit of a daze.

"Sorry about that," Al said quickly.

"That's two walls you've caused me to destroy today," Jaicen remarked, though his tone was light and almost thankful as he realized what Al had just saved him from doing.

"I think, that we should probably get out of here," Al said.

Jaicen took one look at the hole in the wall and the gathering of people near the entrance and nodded his head.

"This time, I call driver," Jaicen said.

Al just shook his head and tossed him the keys as they ran to the Spyder to make their exit. As they pulled off, there were a lot of human eyes following their escape in rather stunned silence.

In addition to the human eyes, there was one other set watching their escape with rapt attention. But those belonged not to another human but instead, to a rather ominous mutant.

End Al Chapter 1


	3. Chapter 2

Jaicen Chapter 2

As they drove off, Jaicen felt the weirdest scratching in the back of his head that reminded him of what Charles Xavier had done to him. It lasted only about half a minute, though, so he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind.

Jaicen drove for a while, though neither he nor Al knew exactly where they were going. As they rode along, they discussed possibilities of what was going on. Every idea they threw out seemed to be nothing more than vague ideas considering they still had very little recollection of themselves and their own lives. Upon review they were able to remember their names, their general age-range and the fact that they both remember being on a trip in Vegas before they blacked out and ended up here. The theory they kept coming back to, though it wasn't something either one really felt logical, was that they were drugged and somehow each of their consciousness was placed inside these other people's bodies.

They spoke about this one the most because as absurd as it sounded, all the other options sounded even more ludicrous. Both had been more than happy to accept the idea that they were most certainly who they said they were; brothers. Jaicen wanted to tell Al that he felt like what they were experiencing was not the same as what they experienced in their own bodies. In other words, something was off not just about them but about the world in general. But he had no real proof because of his own mangled memory. It was more a feeling he was getting than anything else and part of him believed Al felt the same, but he kept quiet nonetheless.

After a while he pulled to the side of the road onto the shoulder and parked the car next to a large field. They were off the beaten path at this point and only saw a handful of cars pass every so often. Jaicen looked down at his scorched shirt and shook his head, pulling it off over his head and tossing it to the back seat.

"Jaicen," Al started slowly. "What happened back there at the bar, anyways?"

Jaicen had been more than happy to talk about their predicament once they left the bar and not on what had happened at the bar. The truth was, he had no idea what came over him and it was a scary feeling.

"Honestly, I don't know," Jaicen said slowly. "I would say that I can't ever remember getting that mad before, but I don't really remember getting anything recently. It was just pure rage. I was so overwhelmed and all I wanted to do was hurt that guy."

"You would've killed him," Al said quietly.

"I think," Jaicen said slowly. "I think I would have, you're right. I don't know where those long claws came from and I certainly didn't anticipate them. But yeah, in that moment I was ready to use them on him."

Jaicen absent-mindedly rubbed at his knuckles. Inadvertantly, Al's hand went up to his glasses.

"I think you broke that guy's fist with your jaw," Al said, lightening the mood.

Jaicen started laughing. Al joined in and the two shared a nice laugh for a moment before the weight of the situation again loomed over them.

"I barely felt the punch," Jaicen said quietly. "My body has taken a beating today and not even a scratch to show for it. I think there's more to this Logan than meets the eye."

Jaicen got out of the car and Al followed suit. Jaicen walked around the car and slowly meandered through the field, looking down at his knuckles. Al followed close behind him, looking out across the emptiness of the field.

"So can you do that at will?" Al said. "The claw thing, I mean. Can you make them come out at will or do you have to get really mad? Because I don't think I can control this eye thing."

"You know, I'm not really sure," Jaicen said, extending his arm.

Maybe it was instinctual, but it didn't take much before the claw popped out of the one arm. Jaicen and Al stared at the blades, almost in awe as they glinted from the sunlight. Al just shook his head, a half smile on his face.

"I guess it's more of a muscle flex than anything," Jaicen confirmed.

Jaicen made sure to keep his arm extended, worried that he might accidentally cut himself now that they were extended. Despite the unfortunate circumstances they had been put in, Jaicen admitted to himself that part of this was at least a little "cool". It would be "cooler" if he could remember who he was. Jaicen noticed that Al was looking out towards a rather large oak tree about 100 yards away from where they were standing.

"Do you think I could hit that tree?" Al asked.

"Go for it," Jaicen offered.

Al whipped the glasses off his face and shot an energy beam in the direction of the tree, though it went a little awry, instead of hitting the base it connected with a branch that split completely off and crashed to the ground. Al put the glasses back on quickly to stop the beam.

"Quite a shot," a feminine voice said from behind them.

The two turned quickly and Jaicen got a whiff of perfume, which made him wonder how he didn't realize she had snuck up on them. His attention was obviously not on anyone else but what was going through his head.

Jaicen didn't know if his mouth dropped opened like Al's, but he did know he was staring at one of the most beautiful women he had ever remembered seeing (which wasn't saying much, considering his memory, but still). She had long flowing blond hair that cascaded down past her shoulders, bright blue eyes and a blemish-free face. Her cheeks were slightly pink, her chin rounded at the bottom. She wore a low cut tank top, showing off an ample bosom and hourglass figure. Her smile lit up the entire field.

Both Jaicen and Al just stared at her for an awkward minute or so, totally forgetting about their new powers.

"My name's Mallory," she finally said, breaking the uneasy silence. "And don't you worry, I support mutants and think humans are despicable for their treatment of you guys. So don't think I'm a mutant hating human or anything."

"I uh," Jaicen said. "I'm Jaic…"

Al elbowed him as he came up next to him.

"…err James," Jaicen said. "Or Logan. You can call me James. Or Logan."

Jaicen was quite the smooth operator.

"I'm Scott," Al piped in quickly. "What exactly are you doing out here in this field?"

"Oh well, my car broke down about 3 miles back and you're two are the first people I've seen," she said. "Well, people passed me of course on the road, but you're the first I've seen out of your car, ya know. And, I saw your nice car over by the road and thought maybe you'd be able to give me a ride."

In the back of Jaicen's mind, something just didn't add up. She smelled fantastic, which was a little surprising considering she had supposedly been walking for 3 miles. Jaicen could smell her clear from where he stood, roughly 25 yards from her. That was something he realized early, that his senses were much better than normal. All he smelled now was perfume, a very sweet scent at that.

The other thing that seemed odd to him was the fact that no one was willing to pick up this knock-out as she walked along the side of the road. Despite the voice in the back of his head saying otherwise, Jaicen thought she seemed relatively harmless. Al seemed to get the same idea.

"We can give you a ride," Al spoke up.

Her face brightened up and all of the reservations Jaicen had seemed to slip right away. Al and Jaicen shared an awkward glance, as if to say "Wow" to each other and then both began walking to the car.

Jaicen went to the driver's side door and Al went to the passenger door, opening it up and sliding to the back, mentioning something about ladies sitting in the front. She thanked him profusely, he blushed and she got in the car next to Jaicen.

Jaicen drove and Mallory directed where to go. Turn here, take this road, turn down here. Neither he nor Al thought anything weird of it, and they kept up a constant dialogue with Mallory, asking her questions about her life. She was a college student in med school, trying to finish up and get out into the work force. She was 24. She liked toads.

Jaicen and Al both seemed to want to keep the conversation going. As they drove, and as the two kept talking to her, Jaicen noticed her attitude getting slightly colder and her answers a bit more crisp. As Jaicen had no clue where he was going he simply took cues from her and in an effort to not have an awkward silence, he tried to make idle talk with her. Al seemed to think the same way as anytime there was a lull, he took up the conversation.

Mallory only spoke when they asked her questions or when she was directing Jaicen and never asked them any questions. Her eyes stayed forward, cool and focused. Every so often Jaicen would glance over to her, his stomach fluttering with butterflies as he did so. The constant conversation directed Jaicen's mind away from the issue's at hand for the time being, which he supposed was good.

Jaicen looked at the digital clock on the dash and saw it read _5:35_. As the conversation lulled and she told them they'd be there in a moment, Jaicen looked around and noticed that they were literally in the middle of nowhere. They were driving through a thick forest of trees and he realized they hadn't seen anyone else in about fifteen minutes. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that this pretty petite girl was setting them up for something.

As they came out of the trees, they followed a trail up a slight incline to a rather large building that if Jaicen had to explain to anyone, he would call a castle. The huge castle was sitting towards the edge of a relatively large cliff that descended down into something Jaicen couldn't see. Mallory motioned for Jaicen to park and he did, turning the car off.

Mallory opened the door without a word and climbed out. Jaicen looked back at Al who just shrugged, looking just as baffled. Mallory stared up at the mansion then leaned down through the door, her cleavage nearly spilling out of the top of her shirt.

"Come," was all she said and began walking towards the building.

"As weird as this whole experience has been," Al said quietly. "I think I can honestly say it's getting weirder by the minute."

"Should we go?" Jaicen asked curiously.

Mallory turned to face them, now thirty feet away and put her hands on her hips.

"Don't tell me you're concerned what a 24-year old nursing student might do to two mutants with your powers?" she snickered and turned back toward the building, walking towards it again.

That was all the prodding they needed as Jaicen and Al quickly exited the car and began walking towards her. Mallory made it to the door and opened it not looking back. The door was swinging shut as they reached it, Jaicen grabbing and holding it open so Al could walk in.

"This place looks like it's straight out of The Haunting," Jaicen said as he followed Al in.

"You can't remember your last name," Al said. "But you remember what the mansion in The Haunting looked like?"

Jaicen shrugged and looked around the utterly empty, dark mansion. There was not a single piece of furniture or anything present in the building and it looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. Jaicen could smell the mildew in the air. Mallory was standing by a hallway entrance, her arms crossed.

"I have someone who wishes to talk to you," she said.

"His name isn't Dracula, is it," Jaicen muttered.

Mallory smirked and turned, walking down the hallway. Against his better judgment, Jaicen followed with Al quick behind him. Mallory was a good ways ahead of them and they hurried to catch up. Shortly, the hallway opened into a large dining room where an older man, at least double Jaicen's own age, was sitting at a table, watching them with piercing blue-grey eyes.

Then, something strange happened. As Mallory was walking over towards the man, her form suddenly shifted. Her skin color turned a bright blue, her hair a dark red. He clothing shifted as well, becoming a white dress of sorts and she turned to face them with yellow eyes. Jaicen and Al stopped immediately; their body's tense, ready to run.

"Welcome Logan, Scott," the man said. "Or should I say, Jaicen and Al."

"How do you know our names," Jaicen asked, not feeling particularly threatened at the moment but still very uneasy from all that had just transpired.

Jaicen's eyes moved from the woman back to the man.

"Let's just say, a little birdie told me," the man said with an almost fatherly smile.

"Charles," Al said angrily.

"No, Charles and I go way back," the man said. "But my birdie is a bit more attractive than him."

Jaicen remembered the itching sensation he felt in the car ride and wondered if the woman beside this man had some sort of telepathic ability. The man saw Jaicen looking at his blue skinned companion and laughed a bit, as if dispelling that notion.

"My name, is Erik Lehnsherr," the man said spreading his hands out wide as if inviting the two to sit at his table.

Jaicen and Al looked to each other and then slowly sat across from Erik at the table. The blue skinned woman leaned down and whispered something in Erik's ear, then turned and left the room.

"I've always believed her more beautiful in her current form," Erik said as he watched both men follow her with their eyes. "But then, I don't condemn people for their differences."

"You're a friend of Charles?" Al said, changing the subject.

"Not exactly," Erik said. "But we've known each other a long time. Charles… is a good man."

"You and I disagree on that," Al said vehemently. "But I suppose someone who commands someone else to pry into someone's head is just as bad as someone who does it on their own."

Jaicen felt a little proud of his brother for essentially defending him, even if they had no idea what this guy had in mind for them. He seemed relatively harmless, but so did the blue skinned woman and as the old saying went, "looks could be deceiving". The man sat back and put one hand to the back of his white hair.

"I apologize for my methods," Erik said. "But your unusual situation warranted such precautions."

"So are you Xavier's lackey?" Jaicen asked.

"Charles and I share the same concern about mutant kind," Erik said. "Yet disagree on how we would preserve it."

Erik put one hand up and a silver goblet filled with liquid floated over to his hand where he plucked it from the air and took a sip. While it wasn't a surprise to Jaicen that this man was a mutant, it was becoming a bit of an annoyance.

"Why did you bring us here?" Jaicen asked point blank.

"You're not of this world," Erik stated calmly.

Jaicen and Al looked at each and then back at Erik quickly. They took what he said to be fact at that moment and Jaicen's heart began to race. Part of him had wondered, but not knowing anything about who he was other than his name left way too much open for interpretation.

"You're sure of that?" Al asked slowly.

"I am," Erik said. "You can trust my source. Charles tries too often to hide things in hopes of protecting… I don't know what. I am honest about my intentions."

"You send a shapeshifting girl to pose as a gorgeous bombshell to convince us to come here," Jaicen said. "And you also had someone, I can only assume, look through my mind. That must've been the scratching I felt back at the bar. Your actions seem pretty on par with Xavier."

"Firstly, I merely asked Mystique to bring you to me," Erik said coldly. "She chose the methods. Secondly, I had to know what we were dealing with before approaching you and thus, my female friend came into play. Unlike Charles, I don't sugarcoat things as I'm sure he did."

Jaicen and Al looked at each other, admitting silently to that. The man certainly commanded a room and made sure they were focused on him the entire time.

"So I ask again," Jaicen said. "Why did you bring us here?"

"Simply put, I believe we can help each other out," Erik said.

He motioned to the side and a computer floated across the room to set down in front of the two of them. They looked at the screen curiously and saw a paused video feed.

"What's this?" Al asked.

Erik rubbed his fingers together and the video feed started. It showed a blue haired man walking down the street and being shunned by people around him. It then showed a huge robot like creature land down in front of him, over double his size. Jaicen and Al watched mildly horrified as there was an exchange between the creature and the man and then the robot put one hand out and literally vaporized the young man into nothing. Without another word, it flew off to points unknown.

"What the hell was that?" Al asked incredulously.

"That," Erik said. "Is what we mutants deal with every single day. The young man was a mutant named Shane Bastion. He was able to mimic the sound of any animal alive but only their calls, their voices. A rather useless ability when considering the grand scheme of things, but he was murdered in the street as if he was a criminal. Simply for the way he was born."

"Look," Jaicen said slowly, finally able to tear his eyes away from the screen. "That was horrible. We get it. The way mutants are treated here is just unfair. But you have to remember, in that other world we came from… wherever or whoever we are, we're human too. We may be inhabiting mutant bodies, but we're still human."

"Perhaps," Erik said. "But you've already fully experienced the hatred towards us. You experienced it first hand at the bar."

He let that thought hang in the air for a moment and flicked a wrist so that the laptop moved back to a different table and set down. Even though what Erik was saying was true and sad, he still hadn't given any indication of what he exactly wanted.

"We want to go home," Al said.

"Then we have finally reached our negotiating point," Erik said with a smile.

The brothers shared another look and then back at Erik.

"In your world, do they use the term "I scratch your back, you scratch mine?" Erik asked.

"Yes, of course," Jaicen said a little annoyed.

"Then by all mean, listen to my terms…"

End Jaicen Chapter 2


	4. Chapter 3

Al Chapter 3

There were two things Al noticed immediately about Erik. First, he was very passionate about what he spoke about, which made complete sense. The second thing was that he was a very convincing speaker, not completely dissimilar to a politician. Erik spoke for roughly 20 minutes about the war that they were constantly involved in but didn't want. The sticking points were that he never wanted anything to resort to violence but the humans were always the first to strike.

Then, he spoke about his plan in vague terms. If done correctly, no humans would be harmed and mutants would benefit greatly. He spoke about the worry that he felt on a normal basis because he never knew when another mutant would make the nightly news. Harder still, was him trying to stay his hand when he knew the powers he carried were that nearly of a God and yet all he wanted to do was live in peace. Al had to admit, Erik had him swaying to his side before he even knew what he'd be doing. He tried to stay level and noticed Jaicen seemed to be doing the same.

"That robot I showed you on the computer," Erik finally began to lead up to his idea. "Was a Sentinel. The humans claimed he was malfunctioning and has since been de-commisioned. They have admitted that Sentinels were created in an attempt to keep the mutant populace under control. We mutants have never wished to exert any type of control over the humans and yet, they feel the need to impress it upon us. These Sentinels may be the death of many mutants and I intend on removing them from the world, one way or another."

"I take it you're getting to the point that pertains to us," Jaicen said.

"We need able bodied mutants to help us sabotage a Sentinel facility from making more Sentinels," Erik said bluntly.

"That seems highly illegal," Al said.

"Sixty years ago, it was illegal for African American's to use the same water fountain as white people," Erik said with the hint of a sneer. "Sometimes, when a law is unfair enough or if going against said law would save many lives, it's worth it to break the law. This, will save many mutants lives and thus humans lives in the process. How many more mutants have to be murdered before some mutants begin taking the law into their own hands and killing humans out of fear for their own lives? If they were concerned for their own safety, could you blame them?"

There was an uneasy silence as Al and Jaicen mulled over what Erik had said.

"You two are the absolute perfect subjects to prove my point about this," Erik said. "You have already managed to feel both sides of the equation. You calmly sat at a bar as a handful of redneck humans were ready to beat you for what you are. Yet, at the same time you looked upon Mystique almost disgusted because of her mutation when only minutes before you were drooling at one of her other forms. What seems more right to you, gentlemen?"

Inwardly, Al reluctantly agreed with most of what Erik was saying. His reaction to Mystique's change had been obvious on his face and Erik had been looking for that. Jaicen sighed and nodded, causing Al to glance over to him then back at Erik.

"We may be in the body of mutants," Al said slowly. "But we're still humans on the inside. We don't have it in us to kill someone."

Erik smiled and glanced ever so slightly at Jaicen who flinched visibly. Erik then turned his attention back to Al and the smile was gone from his face. The meaning was clear, he knew Jaicen very nearly killed a human not hours before.

"I have absolutely no intention of killing any innocent humans in that factory," Erik said seriously. "This is simply a sabotage mission in hopes of destroying a plant that is being built for the express idea of genocide."

Jaicen flinched again, Al was not sure why and the two looked at each other. Al took a deep breath. Even though he couldn't remember very much, he had to think this was the strangest day he probably ever had. Part of him really wanted to help mutants because it seemed like the humans were in the wrong. The other part told him that there was always more than meets the eye in cases like this.

"So if we agree?" Jaicen asked.

"If you agree to help me out," Erik said. "I will do my absolute best to fill in any blanks you have about who you are and try and get you to your home."

Al sat up straighter in his chair. He didn't know if Erik even had the capability, but judging by his confidence, he seemed to think he did. Neither Al nor Jaicen said anything immediately, obviously going over the conversation, and what it led to, in their minds.

"What if you can't?" Jaicen asked slowly.

"You were somehow brought here," Erik said. "If you were brought here by something, than something can take you home. I am sure that somehow, we can get you home. I will not delude you into thinking that this will most certainly be painless. But we'll only do what you allow us to do. I don't want you to make the decision right now. I have a room where you can sit and rest and talk about it. We intend on moving on the facility at 2AM precisely. If you choose to go with us, we'll talk strategy a few hours beforehand. As a show of good faith, we'll do our best to dig up some more information about who exactly you are. If you decide against it, well, I will allow you to go on your way and hope you are able to find what it is you're looking for."

With that, Erik took the two of them to a room further into the castle that was absolutely huge. It looked like the master bedroom of the building but two beds occupied the room as if it normally was bunked by multiple people. They shared some pleasantries with Erik and then he left them to talk. Al walked around the room slowly, taking in the entirety of the situation. There were no windows, he noticed, but a mirror that when he passed he stopped at to look at himself.

Quite the strapping man he was. He could see that this Scott probably was quite the ladies man. Looking at this man in the mirror made him wish he was seeing himself. Al, like everybody, had certain things he wished he could change about himself. Right now, he'd take all his faults with all his positives if he could just remember what he even looked like.

"What do you think?" Jaicen asked, having plopped down on one of the two queen size beds.

"I'm finding it hard to disagree with a lot of his logic to be honest," Al said, watching Jaicen nod. "And if we're here in these bodies, stuck like this… then I don't think it's entirely out of the question for us to help in some way. Especially if he truly thinks he can get us out of here."

"I have to admit," Jaicen said lying back in the bed. "While I wish I could remember more of myself… what we are, what we can do, it has its advantages. By no means do I want to stay here looking like this."

Jaicen motioned to himself for emphasis.

"But, I think you're right. While we're here, if we can help some people or I guess in this case, mutants, shouldn't we?"

"I think the sticking point," Al said as he sat on the other bed. "Is whether or not he can do what he says he can."

"Right," Jaicen said. "So he gives us some good faith proof and we go with him. If he can't provide us with anything, well we figure something else out."

Al yawned and nodded, noticing Jaicen beginning to nod off. He glanced at the clock on the wall that read 9:15 PM. With that, he closed his eyes. A couple hours of shut-eye would do him good.

_Al was in the backyard. The backyard was huge and had a doghouse that had not been occupied for a few years. The feeling of running around the backyard was exhilarating and some of the most enjoyable moments he had. His brother, five years older than him, was out back with him running around. _

_ "How much money do you have?" Al heard Jaicen ask._

_ He fished through his pockets and found a few dollar bills and a few coins. Jaicen walked over and looked at it, nodding his approval._

_ "Let's go to Koko's," Jaicen said._

_ Al lit up. He looked up at his brother, who later many would say was just an older version of Al himself, and smiled widely. Jaicen had short brown hair, a mop top with dark brown eyes. At the moment he wore a striped shirt and shorts, his skinned knees so readily visible. _

_ The two jogged to the back of the yard, a wood plank fence stopping them from moving into the forest behind it. That was never a deterrent, however. Both Jaicen and Al both knew where the right plank was. Jaicen led the way, pulling a loose plank to the side and slipping through with Al right behind him._

_ "What can I get with my money?" Al asked._

_ "Plenty of candy," Jaicen confirmed as the two weaved their way through the forest like a couple of pros._

_ Al kept an eye on his brother as they exited the forest a few minutes later and into some sort of industrial warehouse complex. It was the weekend, so no one was around. The two walked through the parking lot and down towards the railroad tracks. This was an every weekend event for the two, as they only spent time at this house on weekends. They usually were able to save up a couple bucks each and make the trip down to Koko's where they would gorge themselves on candy and cakes and cookies._

_ The two hit the railroad and began walking along it for a while, Al bending down to pick up a small rock and toss it ahead every now and then. The trip from the railroad to the side road that led them to Koko's Mini Mart wasn't especially long, but they always felt like adventurer's when they took this path._

_ "Thundercats are on the move, Thundercats are loose," Jaicen sang quietly to himself as Al hummed along._

_ As they came out from the railroad path, the structure of the Mini-Mart was visible and still just a bit of a walk._

_ "So who are we this time?" Al said._

_ "We're brothers who are being hunted by police," Jaicen said thoughtfully. "And we're hiding out and trying not to be recognized. We have to try and remain as normal as possible to the worker or else he may rat us out."_

_ Al nodded emphatically. They always played games where it seemed like everyone else was the butt of their jokes. They were in their own world and while the worker would play his part, he'd never discover their true identities._

_ When they got to the front of the building, the word's KOKO's Mini Mart was in big letters on the front of the building. They walked in without a hesitation, knowing that any hesitation could cost them their cover._

_ Al didn't look at the worker at the counter, an older Asian man with glasses and instead went immediately to the candy aisle. He looked thoughtfully at the spread and then grabbed candy cigarettes and everlasting gobstoppers. _

_ "Al, check this out!" Jaicen called. _

_ Al ran in the direction of his brother and found him over by the pastry section. Jaicen was looking at the fruit pies. Occasionally, Al would grab an apple pie but only when he was in the mood. What Jaicen was holding, though, was something different. A chocolate "fruit" pie! Al stared at it in wonder._

_ "Do I have enough?" Al asked, looking at what he had and back at the chocolate pie._

_ "Definitely," Jaicen confirmed. _

_ They went up to the front, Al with the candy cigarettes, gobstoppers and pie and Jaicen with a pack of candy cigarettes, junior mints, candy dots, a chocolate pie and a package of runts. It was pretty much an unspoken rule that they'd be sharing the runts and gobstoppers. They put all their items up on the counter and the man looked down at them disapprovingly. Jaicen nudged Al with his elbow as if to say, "Play it cool". Jaicen then put his money up on the counter._

_ "Put two more dollars up Al," Jaicen said. _

_ Al did, Jaicen covering the rest of the haul. Jaicen took his change and they grabbed their bags, walking to the door to leave._

_ "Have a wonderful day sir," Jaicen said with a grin._

_ They both ran out of the store giggling and ran across the parking lot back towards the side path that would lead them to the railroad tracks._

_ "He never even suspected!" Jaicen said._

_ "Let's get away before he figures it out!" Al said._

_ They, of course, were referring to their brilliance in staying one step ahead of the "cops". They ran till they reached the tracks and both pulled out their candy cigarettes. They faked smoking as if they were truly bad boys on the run from the law. They lost interest fairly quickly in the "smoking" aspect of that and turned them into gum. _

_ "I love weekends," Jaicen said as they neared the parking lot they cut through to get back to their house._

_ They both stopped after walking off the tracks and looked back down the other way of the tracks. _

_ "How far do you think it goes?" Al asked._

_ "Pretty far," Jaicen confirmed. _

_ He spit his gum out and opened his package of runts, popping a banana and an orange into his mouth. The call of the tracks were getting to Al. When they were out here on their own, they were adventurers and Al was sure that the tracks led to another adventure. He looked up to his older brother and could tell that he was thinking the same thing._

_ "We've got lots of food," Al suggested, making a case to take the road less travelled._

_ Jaicen looked in his bag and Al got a little hopeful. Jaicen then looked at his watch and Al started getting excited._

_` "Let's check it out," Jaicen finally said. _

_ Al lit up and jumped up and down, spitting out his own gum like Jaicen and ripping open his box of gobstoppers, stuffing a few into his mouth. Al waited for Jaicen to start walking down the tracks and then started to follow._

_ "So who're we gonna be this time Jaicen?" Al asked._

_ "Well, this time we're gonna be superheroes…"_

Al woke with a start, seeing a very hairy short man standing over top of him. It took him a moment to realize it was his brother shaking him awake.

"Erik came in and said he wanted to speak to us," Jaicen said. "You were out cold. What were you dreaming about?"

Al opened his mouth to speak, then paused. He couldn't remember now. It was like one of those times you so vividly dreamt and then when you wake up it all starts to float away.

"I don't remember," Al said. "Something about trains."

"My guess would've been clowns or midgets," Jaicen said. "Come on, let's go see what Erik wants."

Al stood up and glanced to the clock. It read _11:19 PM. _He followed Jaicen out and through the corridors, back to the room they had originally met Erik. Erik was sitting patiently, his fingers intertwined and on his lap. Al and Jaicen took the seats they had originally, across from Erik.

"So, you've given it some thought?" Erik asked.

"We'll do it," Jaicen said. "But first, we want some good faith proof that you can at least attempt to do what you said you would. Anything that could leave our doubts to rest."

Erik smiled to them and nodded slowly before standing up.

"Very well," he said and then called for someone to enter.

A stunningly slutty looking blonde walked in with large breasts barely covered by a white half shirt. Her pants were long and tight as could be and she wore a white shawl/cape across her shoulders. She walked as a woman who was supremely confident. Al stared at her in a type of awe and she glared back at him coolly.

"My friends," Erik said. "Meet Emma Frost."

End Al Chapter 3


	5. Chapter 4

Jaicen Chapter 4

The woman was arrogant and cold. Erik explained to them that she too could read minds and with their permission could probe deeper into one of their psyches to retrieve relevant information. Jaicen and Al were understandably reluctant after the whole Xavier issue, but at this point they seemed to be running out of options. Jaicen was ready to again offer his own brain up for examination when Al stepped up and said he'd do it. Jaicen went to protest, but Al was firm and told him that it was only fair he take the hit this time.

Emma sat across from Al and made no declarations that she would be gentle. She outright said that it would most likely be a little unpleasant for Al. Al pursed his lips and nodded. Jaicen watched as she seemingly worked her magic. Al grimaced when it first happened and it only lasted about 2 minutes but they seemed like a fairly long two minutes. Jaicen tried to keep his cool, though not happy at all.

When she was done, she sat back calmly staring at Al. Jaicen waited for any reaction from Al, but he tried to keep his composure, staring right back at her.

"I will admit," she said finally. "It is difficult to find what I'm looking for. It would seem Scott is still somewhere inside you, albeit completely and utterly dormant. So I ignored that part and tried to focus on your subconscious. We can get more intense later, but there was something that stood out and was very fresh in your mind. Koko's?"

Jaicen looked to his brother and saw his brother start laughing after a moment of realization. Al looked over to Jaicen.

"The old mini mart," Al explained. "We used to go there when we were kids."

The light went off in Jaicen's head. It all seemed to come flooding back to him. Suddenly, he wanted an everlasting gobstopper so bad. Al and Jaicen began laughing together and they both seemed to forget, briefly, the situation they were in.

"That was… a long time ago," Jaicen said quietly.

"So you see, I have the capability to provide what I promised," Erik said.

"Are you sure you can dig deep enough to give us real answers?" Al asked Emma.

Emma smirked.

"Are you sure you have man-parts between your legs?" she asked back.

"I'll take that as a yes," Al muttered and Jaicen had to stifle a laugh. "So what now?"

"Now," Erik said. "We discuss the plan."

The plan, in Jaicen's opinion, seemed to rely on the idea of Jaicen and Al being decoys more than anything. The place they were hitting had two warehouses within a short walk of each other that held significance. Jaicen, Al and the woman Mystique were going to hit one warehouse while Erik (or Magneto as they heard him referred to) and Emma Frost hit the other one. Erik claimed his and Emma's mission was more important as they housed the Sentinels that were considered a more finished product than the one Jaicen and Al were going to.

Erik did specify that their task was very important. Apparently there would be a handful of guards at the warehouse Jaicen and Al were hitting, so they were to use a combination of Mystique and Jaicen's stealth to get in and Al's ability to destroy anything that could be considered detrimental to their cause. Mystique seemed to know more about what exactly they were going to do, so that's why she was going with them.

Erik made a point to stress multiple times that this was just a sabotage mission and no one would be harmed outside of "putting them to sleep" as he put it. If at any time, it got too hectic and the danger became possibly fatal, they would fall back. Everything seemed to make sense, but Jaicen couldn't help but feel a little trepidation about the mission. He wasn't sure if it was because he had never done anything even remotely close to this (that he remembered) or that something about this just didn't seem right. Regardless, his adrenaline was pumping and he practiced extending and retracting his claws to get the muscle twitches down.

Jaicen and Al really had no more time to talk to each other alone as the five stayed together from that point on. Around 1AM Erik said he and Emma would go separately and meet them at the facility. Mystique, Jaicen and Al all piled into a Jeep with Mystique and began driving toward, the facility. There was an awkward silence for about ten minutes as they rode. Finally, Jaicen decided to speak up.

"Sorry about, I guess, judging you?" Jaicen wasn't exactly sure how to word it and it came out sounding worse than it had in his head

"I'm used to your kind judging me," she said coldly.

"Look, we're not like that," Al said from the backseat. "We don't judge people on how they were born."

"How would you even know "what you're like,'" she asked snidely. "It seems to me you're just like any other humans I've encountered throughout my life. I'm working with you because Erik asked me to. That's as far as this will go."

"You can say what you want," Jaicen said irritated. "But let's not forget that you've judged us just the same. At least we have a semi-valid excuse: we don't even know who the hell we are. So you can be a martyr as much as you want, but at least we're apologetic and actually legitimately trying to help you and your brotherhood."

Mystique gritted her teeth a little and didn't say anything. So the rest of the car ride went by in complete and utter silence. They rode for about twenty minutes altogether before Mystique pulled into a deserted side street. She got out of the car without a word and Jaicen and Al followed suit. She grabbed a small duffle bag from the floor next to where Al was sitting and pulled out a small silver gun.

"We continue on foot," she said and began walking.

"Hey, what is that?" Jaicen said, running to catch up with her.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about this," Mystique said. "It's a low-dose tranquilizer gun. Just in case."

The brothers shared an uneasy look and continued after her. They came to the warehouses through a residential neighborhood and behind a copse of trees. The two warehouses were absolutely massive but the parking lot seemed empty save for a few cars. There was a large fence surrounding the entire complex. The fence was huge, easily fifteen feet high and made with thick wire. The top had some sort of barbwire cascading across.

"You're up," Mystique said cooly to Jaicen.

Jaicen looked at her then at Al, shrugged his shoulders and twitched his arm muscles, his claws exploding out.

"Here goes nothing," he said and began to slice through the fence with ease.

He made three quick swipes and made absolute trash of the fence. It felt like a hot knife through butter. A smile found its way to Jaicens lips as they peeled back the fence and stepped through, surveying the perimeter.

As Mystique started moving towards the first Warehouse, her body morphed and became that of an older white man with a security suit on. She turned back to glance at them and they saw a bushy white moustache and dark brown eyes.

"I don't really get this," Jaicen muttered.

"What do you mean?" Al asked as they tried to catch up to Mystique, rapidly approaching the warehouse.

"So this is apparently two warehouses that have these crazy mutant killing robots," Jaicen said. "And they have the security of a Walmart?"

"When you have these robotic monstrosities able to kill mutants on a whim," Mystique called back. "You don't need security."

The answer didn't settle Jaicen's internal questions though. This whole process seemed too easy. And where was Erik?

As they neared a regular sized metal door, a security officer turned the building corner. He opened his mouth to say something and Mystique silenced him with a dart in the neck. He dropped to the ground after a second with a grunt. The brothers again shared an uneasy look.

Jaicen looked towards the other warehouse but saw no sign of Erik or Emma Frost. Mystique tried at the handle but it was locked.

"Now do your job," Mystique motioned to the door.

Jaicen quickly sliced through the door handle, tearing it off the door. The door easily swung open and Jaicen retracted his claws. He went in first, followed by Mystique and then Al who kept his hand on his glasses just in case. The room they entered into was mostly dark, but Mystique broke a glow light open and snapped it on. The light poured out through the warehouse.

There were tons of packages to either side of them and a conveyor belt straight back. To one side of the conveyor belt was a large door that looked to be closed tight. Directly to the left was a metal staircase that led up into a landing directly above the conveyor belt that has a door along the wall. There didn't appear to be anyone else in the room.

Mystique crossed the room, looking left and right as she did so. Jaicen and Al followed behind her. Jaicen's heart was racing, his adrenaline pumping. Mystique turned the knob, and it opened. She pushed the door open and motioned for Jaicen and Al to go in. Jaicen went in first, followed by Al and they look around slowly.

Jaicen took a few steps and tried to get his bearings.

"This is the room, right?" Jaicen asked.

"Yeah, is there a light switch?" Al asked. "Or Mystique, where's the light?"

Al turned back but Mystique wasn't there anymore.

"She's gone," Al muttered.

"Let's just do what we came here to do and get out of here," Jaicen said, his eyes finally beginning to adjust to the light.

As he walked a little further into the building he saw more boxes littered around the room and a large circular cauldron in the center. He noticed the conveyor belt did not enter this room, so there had to be some other room next to this room. He looked up and saw the scaffolding that led to the landing connected to the staircase.

"I don't see any sentinels," Al muttered. "But what's in the big saucer?"  
Jaicen made his way over to a circular staircase that made its way around the saucer to the top where there was a platform. He slowly started going up the steps, feeling like something was not right here. Al followed him quietly until they made it to the top of the platform. When they got to the top, they realized that it was a clear floor of sorts and they could see down into nothing. Just complete darkness. Jaicen glanced around the cauldron and realized that the floor actually seemed like an elevator of sorts and theoretically, could descend down into that darkness.

"Maybe there's more to this place than meets the eye," Jaicen said.

Just then, an alarm started to sound throughout the facility. It was loud and droning and Jaicen looked at Al, eyes wide.

They both descended the steps quickly and ran out of the room into the prior room. They continued across and exploded out of the building. There were people spilling out of the other warehouse, semi-automatic weapons in their hands.

"Holy shit," Al said.

Jaicen looked around and saw they were moving on them quickly. He went to run and felt a warning shot graze his ear. They were already close enough to hit them, so he stopped. He thought, given his mutant ability to survive these difficult situations, he could probably survive a few bullets but he didn't think the same of his brother. He heard someone yell "Freeze!"

Jaicen twitched his muscles and out came his claws. There were roughly a dozen people descending on them. A handful dropped to their knees and aimed their weapons.

"We can't fight them," Al said.

"The hell we can't," Jaicen replied.

"Jaicen, we're still human," Al said. "We can't kill people. And that's what we'd have to do to get through this. We need to surrender."

Part of Jaicen's adrenaline pumping side wanted to go right through every last one of them but he managed to calm himself down and detract his claws. He put his hands up in the air as did Al.

Suddenly, as the men moved in, a thick fog began to rise up around Jaicen and Al. The two looked around a little too stunned to move at first. They heard frantic calls from the men shrouded by the mist. Jaicen then heard _RUN_ in his head.

So they did.

The two realized, as they ran, that the bodies they occupied were in phenomenal shape. They ran for about ten minutes straight, ducking through a copse of trees and then through another residential area. The sound of the alarm started to fade away. After they had gotten a significant ways away, Jaicen began being mentally directed on which way to go. _Take a left. _So they took a left. _Go straight and turn into that parking lot. _So they did. After a few mental commands, they made it to a large empty grocery parking lot where a huge dark blue jet was sitting.

"What the hell happened back there?" Jaicen said to his brother as they approached the jet.

Before Al could answer, a redhead woman in a yellow and red body suit came jogging out of the jet. She looked long at Al in a sad way and then back at Jaicen. Jaicen realized it was the woman from the pictures he had seen. Clearly, she had some romantic ties to the man Al was supposed to be.

"And you are?" Al asked.

"My name is Jean Gray," She said quietly. "Please come with me so we can get away from this place."

The brothers glanced at each other briefly, but Jaicen figured Al had the same thought process he did. With the sirens echoing in the distance, it was better to be safe than sorry. They followed Jean into the jet, which closed behind them. They noticed the woman from the mansion was the one piloting the jet. Jaicen was close to turning and leaving when he saw her, but his better judgment took over and he sat, strapping himself in. Al sat next to him. Jean moved to directly across from them.

"Can she fly that thing by herself?" Al asked.

"We're not going far," Jean said. "She is more than capable of flying it."

"So we're going back to Xavier," Jaicen said, not liking the sound of that.

"There has been many mistakes made today," Jean said quietly. "Professor Xavier would like to say his peace and make his apologies."

With that, the rest of the five minute jet ride was in silence. The ride was incredibly smooth and Jaicen couldn't tell where they were going or where they even landed. Jaicen and Al looked at each other and then watched Jean as she got up and spoke quietly to the woman.

They were then led back into and through the mansion, neither brother wanting to say much. They passed a few children in the hallways that stopped to watch them walk by. Jaicen didn't remember seeing any kids the first time in the mansion, but then again he had been slightly preoccupied.

Jean walked ahead of the two and the other woman walked behind them as if they were being flanked. Jaicen had no intention of making another run for it. It seemed the two of them had already gotten into a fair amount of trouble doing things their own way. Jaicen absently scratched at his knuckles, reliving the last fourteen hours.

They came to a set of double doors that opened in front of Jean like the doors at a grocery store and all four filed into a huge room. In the room, in the center, was Charles Xavier sitting in his chair. Next to him was a man who looked to be in his thirties with light brown hair, cropped up and brown eyes. He was shorter than Al but taller than Jaicen and he wore a blue and yellow suit with a large X in the center of it. He had his arms crossed and was watching them disapprovingly. Jaicen felt a chill go up his spine.

"Before we go any further," Charles said seriously. "I think I owe you both an apology. I didn't expect our encounter to go the way it did and I fully accept the blame. My intentions were good, but my execution was poor. You must realize, Scott and Logan are my friends. I was concerned for their well-being. I now understand that what's important is getting to the bottom of this thing. I will answer you anything within my power."

Jaicen actually believe him. The man seemed to be genuine in his apology. Jaicen glanced over at his brother and thought he got the same vibe from him.

"What happened back there?" Jaicen asked. "Who triggered that alarm?"

"I believe she was your partner in crime at the time," Charles said.

"Mystique," Jaicen growled.

"You were the decoys," Charles said. "Erik needed to draw the attention to you so that he could complete his plan."

"What plan?" Al asked.

"His plan," Charles said. "To assassinate Bollivar Trask."

End Jaicen Chapter


	6. Chapter 5

Al Chapter 5

Al and Jaicen didn't know who Bollivar Trask was and Charles was more than happy to enlighten them. He began a story that went for about an hour about a man, so bent on mutant destruction, that he created the robotic Sentinels in hopes of eradicating them from the world. Not only that, but he was doing all he could to get different mutant bills passed through legislation for things like mutant registration.

From the stories, Al thought he seemed similar to the men he and Jaicen had seen in the bar. Much more resourceful, but no less ignorant. It occurred to Al that he was a far more dangerous man in that respect. Both Al and Jaicen listened to Charles quietly, asking a question here and there while he spoke. Charles spoke passionately, but calmly. Al found himself liking the man despite his earlier disposition. The other mutants had cycled in and out and eventually it was just the three of them.

"Maybe it's a silly question," Jaicen said. "But, wouldn't it benefit the mutants if Trask was assassinated?"

"Then Trask becomes a martyr," Charles replied. "He becomes a symbol of everything he was fighting for. That mutants are inherently evil and need to be stopped. I worry about a future that pits humans versus mutants. Erik thinks that we are the strong and deserve to survive. He has yet to realize that our continued existence rests in our ability to co-exist."

""In time we hate that which we often fear,'" Jaicen said softly.

Al and Charles looked over at him.

"Shakespeare," Xavier remarked.

Al stared hard at his brother. The quote seemed to come natural as if some deep memory bank where only the easy resided. It reminded him of when the two were driving, singing Tom Petty. Neither of them remarked at the fact that they knew the lyrics to the song, it just kind've came to them. It felt like when you hadn't heard a song in ten years and then suddenly heard it on the radio and could recite it as if you had just listened to it the previous day. Al hoped it was a good sign that their memories were not completely lost.

"I have to admit, I see both sides of this issue," Al said. "What's stopping Erik, or Magneto or whatever, from breaking into any and every bank or just mass murdering anyone within a ten mile radius? I mean, the things he could do to people are fairly remarkable, so it doesn't surprise me humans are trying to find ways to protect themselves. On the other side, you can't help the way you were born. And mutants have just as much a right to live a happy life as humans."

"Thus you see our conundrum," Charles replied.

The three sat in silence, mulling over the conversation for a few minutes.

"So what if Erik succeeded?" Jaicen finally asked.

"He did not," Charles responded. "Trask was not where Erik thought he was, thanks to a friend. But he will try again. I have no doubt of that."

"What will you do?" Al asked.

"What we have to," Charles responded. "In any event, that will come later. Erik needs to reassess and try and locate Trask before he can attempt again. Until that happens, we have our own little problem we need to solve. I've called in a friend to help."

"Not another telepath, is he?" Al asked a little suspiciously.

"Not quite," Charles said.

As if on command, the door swung open and in walked something Al didn't quite expect. It had a humanoid body type, but was blue and covered with thick fur. It wore small, what looked like reading glasses and shorts. Other than that, he was completely unclothed. Al stared in wonder as the beast crossed the room gracefully and stood next to Charles.

"Jaicen, Al," Charles said. "Meet my friend, Henry McCoy."

"My pleasure to make your acquaintance," Henry said.

His voice was eloquent, his tone respectful. Al looked over at his brother who shared the same looked, but broke into a smile slowly.

"Nice to meet you," Jaicen said and Al repeated. "I'm sorry if we stare, this is all still new to us."

"A wise man once said, "Be different so that people can see you clearly amongst the crowds," Henry responded kindly.

Henry finished with a bit of a smile which was almost a little scary, with two fangs showing through. But, it didn't make him look menacing. Henry looked back and forth between the two of them and put his hands out in front of him, palms up.

"So, let's see what we can do about getting some answers for you two."

After some convincing, Al and Jaicen reluctantly agreed to be analyzed separately. Charles had solid reasoning: He wanted their focus to be on the task at hand and not on their concern for each other. By Al's count, it had to be about six in the morning at this point, but because of his nap earlier he wasn't necessarily tired.

Henry led Jaicen into a room with all types of scientific instruments and shut the door. Al was led to the bedroom he originally found himself in and sat down on a bed, waiting for his turn. It was only about fifteen minutes before the door opened and Al expected Charles, Henry or Jaicen to walk in.

Instead, Jean Grey walked in.

"Oh, hello," Al said, standing quickly.

There was a pull at his heart as he saw her practically glide across the room towards him, a small smile on her face though her eyes seemed haunted. She stopped a few feet from him, analyzing his features quietly for a moment. Finally she spoke up.

"Do you feel him inside you?" her voice was soft.

Al didn't answer right away. It was a good question and one he had thought about often throughout this whole ordeal. No matter how hard he tried, though, he didn't feel any other presence inside with him. She obviously noticed Al's look and sighed gently, looking down and shaking her head. She quickly recovered herself and looked up to him and smiled.

Her smile seemed to light up the room. There was something about her that Al was drawn to and it wasn't just her obvious attraction. There was something else going on, like he knew her or felt like he had, forever. A kindred spirit perhaps? Al couldn't tell.

"I can barely feel myself in here," Al finally said. "I could probably tell you less about myself than about Scott at this point."

"I understand," she said gently. "The mind is a very complicated thing."

"Are you two married?" Al asked.

"Yes," she said. "Scott and I have known each other for a long time. We were two of the first students ever here at the Institute. Now we both teach here to try and give back."

"And save the world on occasion," Al joked.

"We do what we can to help all people," she replied seriously. "Human and mutant alike."

Al nodded, realizing it was probably a sensitive subject to some. He was an outsider looking in, not a part of the real struggle until he was forced to be. Jean Grey had probably lived this outcast existence her entire life. Al really didn't know what she would've had to have gone through or when she would've been discovered as a mutant, but he believed the struggle was difficult on each mutant. Al motioned to the bed and she sat down. He sat on a chair near Scott's desk.

"Look, I don't mean to minimalize anything you've had to experience," Al said. "Sometimes I may come off as insensitive, but it's because I'm just as lost as anyone right now."

"It's okay," she said. "I get the impression this was not your choice to be here."

"No," Al said. "I don't think it is. At this point I'd do whatever I can to try and remember anything."

Jean looked at him seriously and opened her mouth to suggest something but then closed her mouth and looked to the door. Al noticed it.

"What?" he said. "You have an idea?"

"I do," she said. "But, it's something I don't think you'll want to do."

"I'm open to suggestions," Al said.

"Well," Jean said slowly, meeting his eyes. "I'm a telepath also."

Al realized now why she was reluctant. The last two attempts at this were not enjoyable for him or his brother. Something about her and her reluctance to ask him made him believe that she only had good intentions. With Charles, everything was so new that it seemed like he had very little care for what happened to them. Al still wasn't convinced he was all he seemed.

With the woman, Emma, he was sure she didn't care if she turned his brain to mush or not. She was not exactly the warmest person he had ever met. Jean Grey was different though. She just seemed like she cared and would take the effort to be careful. He felt like he could actually trust her.

"What would you do?" Al asked, not against the idea.

"Well," she said. "It's possible due to my connection with Scott that I would be more apt to maneuver through whatever mental blocks have been put up. But I understand if it's too much. I don't want to push."

"I trust you," Al said and believed it.

Jean's face brightened up and his agreeance was suddenly completely worth it.

"If at any point you feel uncomfortable, just touch my hand," she said.

With that, she reached out one hand and caressed the side of his cheek. Her hand felt warm and soft. Al relaxed immediately, feeling warmth flooding through his body. There was a sensation of prying through his mind, but it was subtle as if she was gentle peering behind curtains as opposed to ripping open doors.

"There's a block," Jean said softly.

Al tried to remain calm. He wasn't sure if she was just not as powerful as a telepath or if she was being extra careful, but the scratching he was accustomed to was gentle.

"I see, a mini mart," she said. "I see you and your brother."

Jean grimaced a little and put her other hand to her own head.

"Las Vegas," she said. "At a casino. You're not doing well. I… did someone put something in your drink? I can't tell, it's so fuzzy. I can see your brother. He's so blurry though. I… I… ugh."

Jean dropped her hand from his cheek and broke the connection. Al took a deep breath and helped her straighten herself. He vaguely remembered what she had said, but he already knew he was in Las Vegas for his birthday, so it wasn't anything new.

"Are you okay?" Al asked, his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not fully developed like the Professor," she said. "It's difficult for me to be careful and yet still be able to see anything."

"An amateur," Al said. "Thanks for warning me beforehand."

"I didn't feel Scott in there," she said dejectedly, ignoring his sarcastic comment. "Your memories are so hazy. Something happened to you that either caused you to block everything out, or you're choosing not to view them. Considering your brother is having the same problem, I'd like to think the former."

"I'm sure Scott's in there," Al said awkwardly. "Maybe just dormant until we can find a way for me to get out. Trust me, we'll figure something out."

The two shared a long look. For a moment, Al thought she might kiss him and he actually considered leaning in himself. He had to remember that the person she was staring at and the person she had feelings for, was not him.

"I'm sure you're right," Jean said. "I just…"

Suddenly, the woman named Storm came into the room. She looked at the two of them briefly before turning her attention to Jean.

"You will want to see this," she said.

Jean looked from her to Al, back to Storm and then nodded. All three of them rushed out. Al followed close behind as they made their way to a huge living room of sorts where multiple younger mutants were standing around watching a huge television built into the wall. There was a breaking news banner at the bottom and an attractive woman was talking about a break-in at Trask factories.

"So far, we don't have all of the details," the reporter said. "But eye witnesses have attested to the fact that two men, fitting the description of Logan Howlett and Scott Summers, broke into Trask enterprises, attacking a security guard in the process. There is no word on what the two were looking for, but as we all know, Bollivar Trask is a well-known crusader against mutant on human violence who has already been targeted multiple times by mutant-rights activists. These two mutants have no history of mutant on human violence, however they have been involved in multiple mutant on mutant attacks and as always, mutants are known to be unpredictable."

"This is bullshit," Al said, listening in stunned silence until that point. "She's talking out of her ass."

"… authorities have not responded on the their future course of action and News 4 will keep you updated on this unraveling story."

Al felt like all of the mutants in the room were now staring at him disapprovingly. He looked at Jean for help and she smiled gently.

"Look," Al said. "That whole news report was complete crap. That woman had a clear ulterior motive and it was on full display."

"We know," Jean said. "This isn't the first time we've seen something like this Al. It's unfortunate and it's going to make your life while you're with Scott and Scott's life after a little more difficult. Humans take any chance they can get to make us look bad. This is just another prime example of that."

"If the authorities come looking here," Storm said. "Logan and Scott will be in trouble."

"They have no evidence other than a few mutant haters claiming they saw these two men," Jean said. "In fact…"

Just then, the news team started talking about another report of the two mutants in question. Apparently, someone had filmed the two getting into a bar fight with one of their camera phones.

"… the footage you're about to see," the reporter said. "May be a little graphic."

They then played a shaky camera phone video that started right after the redneck threw a punch at Jaicen. Everything seemed to happen really fast, including Al shooting Jaicen through the wall. The aftermath seemed most important, though. The man, Dave, was shown being wheeled into an ambulance howling that his back was broken. The other man, Chuck was having his hand wrapped and being told it was broken. Gus, for all intents in purposes, seemed to be in fine condition, but he was crowing about mutants and how dangerous they were.

Al watched quietly, as did all those around him, a thousand images going through his head. He thought about how your actions had repercussions and in this instance, the repercussions were going to be felt by more than just him and Jaicen.

The newscast cut back to the reporters who began talking about how mutants were dangerous and how the mutant registration act couldn't get approved quickly enough. They began musing about what could've caused two X-men to seemingly suddenly go rogue, but concluded that any mutant had that capability and that was what made them so dangerous. Finally, mercifully, Jean turned the TV off.

The few young mutants still in the room slowly plodded off, moving to the pool table or leaving the room. Al really wasn't sure what to say. This situation had gone from weird, to bad fairly quickly. He turned and faced Jean.

"So, what now?" he said slowly.

"Now," Jean said slowly. "Now, we talk to the professor."

"Nothing is ever easy…"

End Al Chapter 5


	7. Chapter 6

Jaicen Chapter 6

Henry McCoy was another example of why someone should never judge a book by its cover. As he ran tests on Jaicen, they discussed a multitude of different things ranging from theories on why Jaicen and Al were here, the mutant against human struggle, the nature of Henry's work (mainly gene theory) and even some Shakespeare. As time passed, Jaicen realized he really liked Henry and felt he could truly relate to him on some level. Henry, for his part, spoke to Jaicen like an equal and seemed to enjoy answering any and all questions Jaicen had about mutants and the registration act.

Henry was a world renowned scientist in the field of biochemistry and genetics, which Jaicen thought may come in handy. He was running multiple different tests on Jaicen to try and differentiate the sets of genes inherent in Logan and see if there was a different set combined when Jaicen merged with Logan. Before Henry ran any tests, if Jaicen had any questions Henry would answer them honestly, which Jaicen appreciated.

The more Henry and Jaicen spoke of the registration act, the more Jaicen felt bad for mutants in general. The idea of registering as a mutant simply because they were born a certain way was serious enough, but the fact that they were making super-powered mutant killing machines just seemed to add fuel to the fire that the registering could be detrimental to mutants everywhere.

"How close are they to getting the act pushed through?" Jaicen asked as Henry scanned under his arm with some type of thermometer and ran it down his side.

"Well, I do not believe it will become reality anytime soon," Henry said. "Nonetheless, if we do not continue our fight against that which is clearly unjust, it may be realized more quickly than we could comprehend."

Jaicen nodded as Henry went through this particular test slowly. The term "constant struggle" cropped up in Jaicen's mind multiple times. Occasionally, Jaicen felt his anger bubbling to the surface and had to make a concerted effort to keep himself under control.

"So far, nothing different?" Jaicen asked, referring to the physiology of himself and Logan.

"Not as of yet," Henry said, setting the tool down on his research table.

Henry then reached into a drawer and pulled out a rather odd looking rectangular shaped object. He set it down on the lab table in Jaicen's view. The object seemed to be comprised of two sections. The bottom part, about five inches vertical, was a forest green color. The part extending from that was about five inches itself, a burnt orange color. The green part served as a base, the orange part had what looked to be a face and upper body carved it into. There were "arms" on either side leading down to the base. The section in the center, the face, seemed to have its own perforations as if that particular section could move or be removed.

"Do you recognize this?" Henry asked, watching Jaicen closely.

"No, not at all," Jaicen responded, puzzled. "Why?"

"I have not had much time to analyze this," Henry said. "But I'm convinced this relic came with you and your brother when you arrived here."

Jaicen stood up and moved over to the item, running his fingers along the front. It was solid and cold to the touch.

"Where was it?" Jaicen asked.

"In Scott's room," Henry replied.

He then pulled out, from the drawer, two relatively normal looking digital watches, one with a busted strap. He set them next to the idol.

"I found one of these," Henry continued. "In Scott's room on his bed. The other, I found laying in the rubble of the wall you unceremoniously exited from."

Jaicen looked at them closely and saw that they were exactly the same type of watch and currently, neither one showed the time, instead, just showing a blank screen. Jaicen pushed a few buttons, but nothing happened.

"So we apparently got here with a few broken watches and some weird statue," Jaicen surmised.

"'Appearances often are deceiving,'" Henry responded.

Jaicen studied the statue for a long moment, hoping that it would jog some sort of memory, but no luck. He sighed to himself and looked over to see Henry watching him closely.

"What?" Jaicen said.

"It's interesting to see you in Logan's body," Henry said. "You are a very different person in mannerisms and thought process."

"Of course," Jaicen said. "We're different people, what's your point?"

"Earlier, you related to me the altercation you were involved in at the bar," Henry continued.

"Do you have a point?" Jaicen asked irritated.

"Your reaction when pushed," Henry said. "That was more representative of the man I know than the man you are. We may have more tests to come to our proper conclusions, but I am convinced Logan is a part of you right now even if only a little."

"Makes sense," Jaicen admitted.

"The tricky part is extracting your two psyches so as not to harm either one of you," Henry continued. "That, I admit, is beyond my comprehension at the moment."

The door opened and Professor Xavier entered followed closely by Storm.

"We need you two in the conference room," Charles said. "We've got some things to talk about."

Henry nodded and the two of them began to leave. Before Jaicen left, he looked at the watches again and on impulse, pocketed the two.

He had a feeling those watches were going to come in handy.

When Jaicen reached the conference room, his brother and Jean Grey were already in attendance. He nodded to his brother who returned it. Also present was the young man that had stood by Charles Xavier upon their second meeting with him. Jaicen counted seven people present including himself. There was a large table in the center of the room where Jaicen took a seat next to his brother on one side and Henry on the other. On Al's other side was the woman Jean Grey. Professor Xavier sat near the front, so that everyone could see him.

"We've had an unfortunate circumstance come up," Charles said slowly. "I'm being called to Washington D.C.,"

Jaicen felt an odd pull at his heart when he heard "Washington D.C" but ignored it.

"So you're just leaving?" Jaicen asked, a little perplexed given the circumstances. "What about us?"

"Unfortunately, this situation concerns you," Charles responded. "As Al already knows, the national media has gotten a hold of video footage of your tussle in the bar as well as being id'ed at the factory just a few hours previous. Suffice it to say, anti-mutant legislators are whetting their teeth with this story, considering you both are well known X-Men. I need to do damage control."

There was a long silence in the room and Jaicen was pretty sure Al felt the same guilt he did. The guilt was slightly misplaced considering the circumstances, but it was there nonetheless.

"While I'm gone," Charles continued. "Storm will be in charge."

Jaicen looked over at Storm and she stared back at him cooly, causing a shiver to run up his spine.

"I hopefully will only be gone a couple of days but it really depends on how everything goes," Charles said. "While the two of you are of great concern, this situation precedes yours. The last thing we need is for your actions to expediate the passing of the mutant registration act."

He said the last words gently, but it didn't hit Jaicen any less. The anger inside him began to boil. It was anger at no one in particular and everything at once. Anger at humans for having such narrow-minded views on the world and mutants. Anger at Magneto for using them as a pawn in his own games. Anger at whoever or whatever had put them in this situation. And even anger at himself for letting his anger get the better of himself and not thinking clearly through the last 24 hours.

Jaicen stood up angrily and walked to the door. When he reached the door, he had no intention of leaving but he could feel everyone's eyes on his back. He reached back and threw a punch at the door, hearing a resounding CLANK and leaving a relatively large dent.

"This is ridiculous," Jaicen said angrily, turning back to face the six pairs of eyes.

Jaicen searched for more words to explain his frustration, but nothing came out. The young man who Jaicen had seen but not been introduced to was the first person to speak and stand up.

"This is your fault anyways," he said angrily. "All you had to do was stay in your room like Professor asked and we wouldn't even be in this situation. So I suggest you change your tone really quick."

Al stood up slowly and that caused everyone else to as well. Jaicen's arms dropped to his side, his fists clenched.

"I don't even know who the hell you are," Jaicen said, annoyed. "So maybe you should just go to hell."

The man slowly morphed, his body becoming literally ice blue. The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees as a threat. Jaicen, knowing a threat when he saw one, twitched his muscles and out came the claws. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Al reach up and put his hand to his glasses.

"Hell wouldn't like me too much," the man said.

There was an uneasy silence before Henry spoke up.

"Now that we've all gotten that out of our systems," he said. "We should perhaps focus on the larger issue at hand."

Charles was watching the spectacle very quietly. Storm and Jean had yet to say or do anything but they both seemed tense. Jean seemed a little more worried while Storm had an air of readiness about her.

"Bobby," Storm said quietly.

The one named Bobby slowly morphed back to his human form. Jaicen retracted his claws and Al slowly moved his hand away from his glasses.

"You're not worth it," Bobby said with a smirk.

"If you ever think I might be," Jaicen said. "Just try me, bub."

All five of the X-Men looked at Jaicen when he was done talking. There seemed to be a weird understanding from the five about something and then Henry sat back down which led to everyone slowly sitting down. Jaicen was the last to sit, staring hard at Bobby for a while before turning his attention back to Charles.

"So what's the plan?" Al asked.

"While I'm away, I'd like for Henry to run some more tests on the two of you," Charles said. "I would like to stress, that for both your best interest and our own best interest that we need you two to stay within the confines of this institution."

Jaicen didn't like it. He didn't like it, but he understood it so he just nodded slowly. Al looked over to his brother than back at Jaicen.

"And what happens if Erik attacks Trask again while you're away?" Al asked.

"My X-Men have been trained for situations like this," Charles responded. "Ororo is more than capable of running the team in my absence and I have the utmost respect for her capabilities. As I said, it will only be a couple of days I'm gone hopefully. When I return, hopefully Henry will have more answers. Regardless, we'll attack your situation with more vigor on my return."

With that, the conference was ended as Charles explained he needed to be in D.C. by midday at the latest. Jaicen and Al filed out of the room first and moved into an adjacent hallway to talk.

"Not to be a stickler," Al said. "Because you know I've got your back. But is there any chance you could keep your anger a little more in check?"

"I'm sorry man," Jaicen said. "That little shit just rubs me the wrong way. The white haired woman too."

"Me too," Al said. "But you getting angry doesn't do us any good and can only get us into trouble at this point."

Al made sure not to mention the bar, but Jaicen got the point. They saw the rest of the X-Men leave the room, with Bobby making a point not to look at Jaicen and instead head down the other way with Storm following him. Charles emerged last, looking to the two and then heading in the same direction as Storm and Bobby.

Jean Grey and Henry McCoy stopped in the hallway and made their way over to the boys.

"Bobby's a good guy," Jean said, looking at Logan. "If a little brash. He's been with Henry, Scott and I since the beginning."

"I'll have to take your word on it," Jaicen said, with a little more snark than he had intended.

"We have decided that we would like to analyze both of you in combat situations," Henry said. "The resulting analytics could go a long way in determining how to separate you from your counter-parts without damaging any of you."

"Combat situation?" Al asked suspiciously. "What do you mean combat situation?"

"We have a room," Jean said, looking over at Henry then back at Al.

Jaicen and Al shared a look.

"What kind of room?" Jaicen asked.

"It's called the Danger Room," Jean replied.

Jaicen looked over at his brother who had a look of exasperation on his face. He just shook his head and laughed sardonically.

"Of course it is."

The Danger Room was explained to the brothers as a very real simulation room with the potential for real injuries and possibly even death if everyone involved wasn't cautious enough. While it was a little bit vague, Jaicen admitted to himself it got his adrenaline pumping which seemed kind've weird to him.

Henry and Jean told the boys that they'd go through some simple exercises to see how often and intensely their instincts kicked in. They were fitted with a few wires and stickers underneath their suits to register heart-rate and other things according to Henry. According to both Jean and Henry, they would take it slow and move up the difficulty until Jaicen and Al no longer felt comfortable.

Just before the Danger room, there was a changing room of sorts where they were introduced to the outfits they were told to wear for safety purposes. Jaicen took one look at his suit and couldn't help but laugh.

Almost the entire suit was yellow, with the shoulder "pads", gloves and belt being a dark blue color. The suit was tight and form fitting, though not necessarily uncomfortable. The mask is what really set off the ensemble though. The only free section was his mouth to chin, the rest was covered in a yellow material that became black and extended up to include his hair. When Jaicen was wearing his full outfit, Al began laughing hysterically.

Jaicen assumed blue and yellow was the X-Men's colors because Al was in a similar get-up though more blue than yellow. His was a tight body suit in blue that ran down the length of his body with yellow gloves and belt. His belt and "underwear" were also yellow (and the underwear was on the outside strangely). He had a large X on the front of his belt and again on another belt that ran up his chest near his breast. One interesting thing was the visor he had now donned. Jaicen had to admit, that looked badass. It was similar to a periscope but thinner and ran to either side of his head where Al confirmed there was a button for him to use his beam.

"What're you laughing at?" Jaicen asked. "You don't look much better."

"I don't mind the way I look," Al said. "It's a little tight, but not bad."

"Well, let's see what we've gotten ourselves into then," Jaicen said.

They walked to the door leading into the Danger Room and it opened with a release of air. The brothers looked at each other and slowly walked into the room, looking around to get their bearings.

The room was enormous, or maybe that was the simulation. The two walked slower into the room, scanning for any type of "danger". Jean and Henry had been vague but had said there would be some things that would try and cause them harm or get in their way and they were to react as if they needed to defend themselves. Jean and Henry also admitted that it would be on a low setting that would not be possible to really hurt them, but wanted them to treat it as if their lives were in danger.

Al walked next to Jaicen, on his left, his hand on his visor. Jaicen twitched his muscles extending his claws just in case. Shortly after he did that, a huge disc larger than Jaicen himself, and seemingly razor sharp began whipping towards him. Jaicen dropped into a roll.

"Al, left," he called out.

Al instinctively dropped to a knee, the disc going past him over his head.

A large boulder then dropped from the ceiling in an attempt to squash Jaicen. He looked up in time and sprung forward, landing on his hands and flipping to his feet a few feet away.

"This is easy mode?" Jaicen grumbled.

Some sort of gun suddenly sprouted out of the ground behind Jaicen. He turned to see it and he saw the flame start. Jaicen reversed direction and began rolling to his right when the device exploded in front of him, showering him with sparks. Jaicen looked over and saw Al with his hand to his visor.

"Thanks," Jaicen said.

"Owed you for the heads up," Al said.

"Then here's another," Jaicen said quickly. "Duck!"

Al dropped down to his stomach, rolled to the right, to his back then sprung to his feet as three dagger like blades embedded themselves where he had been standing.

Everything stopped then, with both Jaicen and Al crouched ready for anything. Jean Grey's voice came over an intercom.

"Good," She said. "Now let's go to level 2."

Jaicen and Al looked at each other with Jaicen mouthing "level 2?" Al shrugged and rubbed his neck a little looking around. Jaicen felt his adrenaline surge and looked up to where he thought he heard the voice.

"Bring it on."

End Jaicen Chapter 6


End file.
